Ethical Stalk

While the term "stalking" has a sinister ring to it, there are legitimate reasons to stalk people online. I'm not talking about keeping tabs on your ex or monitoring what your teen is doing on social media. I'm talking about using online investigation techniques for valid business-related reasons like:

• Vetting job applicants.
• Tracking down email addresses for guest posting opportunities.
• Getting background information on potential clients.
• Preparing for a job interview.
• Keeping an eye on what your competitors are doing online.
• Monitoring what information is publicly available about you.
• Perhaps the most pervasive (and acceptable) use of online stalking is among employers looking to see what potential hires are really like. Up to 91 percent of employers now use social networking sites to screen prospective candidates. There has even been academic research done on how social media postings can reveal important personality traits in job applicants. According to researchers, "these data [social media posts] offer a glimpse of employees in settings free from the impression management pressures present during evaluations conducted for applicant screening and research purposes."

In other words, a person's social media posts can provide an objective view of what he or she is like in real life.

Researching an individual or company online can save you from a number of unfortunate situations. It can also give you a leg up on the competition by allowing you to access contact information for important media and PR opportunities.

1. Use Facebook and Twitter lists to keep a (private) eye on your competitors' posts.
Fortunately, both Facebook and Twitter allow you to follow a person or company's public posts and tweets without actually following them. On Twitter, create a private list of your competitors' tweets; you won't be listed as a follower, so no one will ever have to know (although, there's really no harm in publicly following another company!).

2. Use Facebook 'Pages to Watch' to automate your sleuthing.
This is very useful feature that allows you to automate the tracking of your competitors' pages. It's easy to set up: Go to your Facebook Insights, and then scroll down to the Pages to Watch link. You should see some suggested pages, but you can also search for and add your own using the Graph Search query above.

And don't worry: While the admins of the pages you add can see that they've been added, they won't be able to see who did the adding. Your secret's safe!

3. Find hidden photos and posts using Facebook Graph Search.
While searching someone's Facebook profile can be useful, most savvy social media users will have taken steps to remove incriminating photos and information. This is where Facebook's Graph Search comes in handy: simply type in "photos of [insert name here]" to view all Facebook photos that your subject has been tagged in.

Source: entrepreneur

About LaraNet: We are a web design firm focused to help you to grow your business and communicate with your customers and prospects using two simple but powerful tools: 1) Interactive Website and 2) Internet Marketing Strategy on social networks like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc …
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